The 13 countries seeking accession to the European Union are rapidly adopting the EU's unsustainable transport patterns, as roads gain increasing importance in their transport systems at the expense of the railways and economic recovery brings growing levels of traffic.

The 13 countries seeking accession to the European
Union are rapidly adopting the EU's unsustainable transport patterns,
as roads gain increasing importance in their transport systems at the
expense of the railways and economic recovery brings growing levels of
traffic.

This is the headline message of a new report from
the European Environment Agency (EEA), Paving the way for EU
enlargement: Indicators of transport and environment
integration.

The report examines progress made in the transport
sector in implementing the principle, adopted by EU leaders at their
Cardiff summit in 1998, of integrating environmental concerns into
other policy areas.

Based on a set of key indicators of progress - or
lack of it - the report finds that transport trends in both the EU and
accession countries are moving away from, not closer to, the main
environmental objectives of EU policies on transport and sustainable
development.

These call for breaking the close link between
economic growth and transport expansion, as well as stabilising the
"modal split” -- the market shares of the different transport modes -
at 1998 levels by 2010, then shifting traffic from the roads back to
rail and inland waterways.

The report shows, for instance, that in the EU and
accession countries energy consumption by transport and the associated
emissions of greenhouse gases are increasing rapidly, mainly due to
growth in road transport. Another indicator shows land-take by
transport infrastructure is rising and increasing pressures on
designated nature protection areas.

In the accession countries the environmental
pressures from transport are still less than in the EU, but this
favourable position is changing fast:

Transport volumes in the accession countries, which fell
significantly following the economic recession of the early 1990s, are
now rising again as economies recover. By 1999 volumes were almost back
to their 1990 levels, and this trend is expected to continue;

Railways' share of freight and passenger traffic remains well above
EU levels but overall transport infrastructure in the accession
countries is evolving towards a road-oriented system. This will make it
harder to maintain a substantial market share for rail;

The transport sector's energy consumption and greenhouse gas
emissions are three to four times lower than EU levels on a per-capita
basis but, as in the EU, are growing rapidly;

Road and rail networks are less dense than in the EU, causing less
fragmentation of the land, but motorway lengths have almost doubled
over the past 10 years.

On a brighter note, the accession countries'
transport emissions of certain air pollutants fell at the beginning of
the 1990s and, helped by fleet modernisation and improved fuel quality,
stabilised in the second half of the decade despite rising transport
volumes.

However, while urban air quality is generally
improving across Europe, urban populations remain exposed to pollution
levels, from traffic as well as other sources, that pose a danger to
health.

Gordon McInnes, EEA Interim Executive Director,
said:

"The analysis indicates that the main challenge for
the accession countries is to maintain the advantage they still have in
certain aspects of transport and environment while meeting society's
need to improve living standards and consequent demands for increased
mobility."

"It would be highly regrettable if this opportunity
were lost. However, current trends in the accession countries are
worrying. The EU Transport Council has invited these countries to adopt
the EU's principle of environmental integration, but more needs to be
done to ensure that this invitation is turned into action."

- The accession countries are Bulgaria, Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic. For the purposes of this
report, Turkey, which is also a candidate for EU membership, is also
considered an accession country.

- The report, also known as TERM 2002, is the third
produced under the EU's transport and environment reporting mechanism
(TERM) but is the first to include the accession countries. TERM is
steered jointly by the EEA, Eurostat, the European Commission's
statistics office, and the Commission's Directorates-General for
Transport & Energy and Environment.

About the EEA

The European Environment Agency is the main source
of information used by the European Union and its Member States in
developing environment policies. The Agency aims to support sustainable
development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement
in Europe's environment through the provision of timely, targeted,
relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the
public. Established by the EU in 1990 and operational in Copenhagen
since 1994, the EEA is the hub of the European environment information
and observation network (EIONET), a network of around 300 bodies across
Europe through which it both collects and disseminates
environment-related data and information.

The Agency, which is open to all nations that share
its objectives, currently has 29 member countries. These are the 15 EU
Member States; Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, which are members of
the European Economic Area; and 11 of the 13 accession countries -
Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic. The EEA is
the first EU body to take in the accession countries. It is anticipated
that the two remaining accession or candidate countries, Poland and
Turkey, will ratify their membership agreements within the next few
months. This will take the Agency's membership to 31 countries.
Membership negotiations with Switzerland, which is not in the EU, are
also under way.

Annex

Key messages

Is the environmental performance of the
transport sector improving?

Energy consumption by transport is increasing rapidly, mainly as a
result of growth in road transport

Accession country (AC) transport CO2 emissions dropped
in the early 1990s, but are now growing with traffic volumes

AC transport emissions of air pollutants dropped at the beginning
of the 1990s, and have since stabilised

Land take by transport infrastructure is increasing

Land fragmentation in the ACs is less than in the EU, but is
increasing with infrastructure development

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